Fastener driving apparatus



0d. 25, 19% H. A. acumv L FASTENER DRIVING APPARATUS Filed March 25,1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 s U T M m MA U G m I R A D R m E T M F Oct. 25,1966 :5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 25, 1965 H. A. BQULAY FASTENERDRIVING APPARATUS Oct. 25, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet. 3

Filed March 25, 1965 This invention relates to fastener drivingapparatus and more particularly to apparatus for driving fasteners fedfrom a magazine into a workpiece.

Fastener driving apparatus of the type in which fasteners are seriallywithdrawn from a magazine for driving into a workpiece are findingincreasing use in the construction industry. For example, apparatus ofthis type may be used in the laying of hardwood floors. Such anapparatus is equipped with a magazine that contains a substantial supplyof nails. A nail is withdrawn from the magazine and fed to anail-delivery passage, from which it is driven downwardly into aworkpiece by a nail-driving blade carried by a plunger. In manuallyoperated devices the downward movement of the plunger conventionally iseffected by striking the plunger with a hammer or mallet.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel and improvedfastener driving apparatus which includes a magazine for storing aquantity of fasteners and which functions to successively deliverfasteners from the magazine to the nail-delivery passage for driving bythe plunger.

Still another object of the invention is to provide novel and improvedfastener-feeding mechanism for efiiciently delivering fasteners to thedriving passage in response to the resetting of the plunger aftercompletion of a fastener driving operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedmanually operated heavy duty fastener driving apparatus of the typeparticularly adapted for use in the nailing of hardwood flooring.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedfastener driving apparatus in which the feeding and driving of fastenersare coordinated so as to avoid the possibilities of jamming a fastenerin the drive track.

Apparatus constructed in accordance with the invenlion includes a bodyhaving an upwardly extending head portion formed with a fastener drivingpassage. Structure defining a fastener feeding passage extends away fromthe body portion for connection to a magazine which holds a supply offasteners. In the particular embodiment described hereinafter in detail,these fasteners are full headed nails which are secured together inserially spaced arrangement by a frangible connector so that the nailsmay be coiled into a compact cylindrical configuration. A plunger isslidably mounted in the head portion and has :1 depending fastenerdriving blade disposed for movement downwardly through the drivingpassage upon downward movement of the plunger to drive a fastenerdisposed in the driving passage through that passage into a workpiece.Also, mounted in the body is a feed cam which is responsive to thedownward movement of the plunger. Coupled to this feed cam in thefastener feeding passage is a feed pawl which is ar anged to engage afastener and advance the fastener from the feed passage to the drivingpassage. Also disposed adjacent to the feed passage is a holding pawlwhich engages a fastener in the feed passage and prevents movement ofthat engaged fastener away from the driving passage. The feed cam, inresponse to the downward movement of the plunger drawings in which:

, azaleas Patented Oct. 25,1966

moves the feed pawl to a cocked position and the feed pawl is thensecured in cocked position by a latch. A latch release, also disposed inthe body, is actuated upon return of the plunger to its full up positionto release the feed pawl latch so that the feed pawl'advances a fastenerfrom the feed passage into the driving passage.

Also included in the apparatus is a plungercontrol which prevents upwardmovement of the plunger after a fastener driving operation has starteduntil the plunger reaches its full down position. This interlockprevents resetting of the plunger after only partial driving of afastener thus avoiding the feeding of more than one fastener into thedriving passage at one time so that a cause of potential jamming of theapparatus is eliminated.

The apparatus provides a simple and reliable fastenerdrlving apparatuswhich may be incorporated in a'manual type of nail driver in which theplunger is actuated by being struck by a hammer or mallet. t v

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be seen asthe following description of a particular embodiment thereof progresses,in conjunction with the FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of amanually actuated fastener driving apparatus constructed in accordancewith the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the fastener driving apparatusshown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of the nose portion of the fastener-drivingapparatus shown in FIGURE 1 showing the side of the nose piece oppositethat shown in FIG- URE l;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view similar to FIG- URE 2 with aportion of the nose piece broken away to show details of thefastener-feeding passage;

FIGURE 5 is a sectiona l view of the body portion of thefastener-driving apparatus, showing details of 1 the plunger and feedcam;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of the plunger-control pawl showing itsposition during a downward stroke of the plunger;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 5 showing the plunger inits down position at the completion of the driving of a fastener into aworkpiece;

FIGURES 8, 9, and 10 are sectional views taken along 5 the lines 8-8,99, and 10-10 respectively of FIG- URE 5: and V FIGURE 11 is a sectionalview similar to FIGURE 10 taken along the line 1l1l of FIGURE 7. 3

With reference to FIGURE 1, the fastener driving apparatus there shownis a nailer particularly arranged for driving nails 10 at an angle intoa workpiece, which in this case is a series of hardwood flooring boards12. The nailer structure includes a body portion 14 having a carryinghandle 16 secured to it. Protruding'from the upper end of the bodyportion is a plunger head 18, which may be struck one or more blows by ahammer'in a naildriving operation. At the lower end of the body portionis formed a nose-piece structure 20 and secured to the lower surface ofthe nose piece is a guide structure 22 adapted to be positioned againstthe tongue 23 of the hardwood board 12 to be nailed and a shoe 24 whichlies on the surf-ace of the board as indicated in FIGURE 1.

A magazine 26 is secured to the nose piece by a structurc 28 whichdefines a nail-feeding passage. Mounted a on one side of structure 28 isa holding-pawl structure 30 (indicated in FIGURE 1) and on the oppositeside-of structure 23 is mounted a feeding-pawl structure 32 (indicatedin FIGURE 3). The feeding pawl is normally arranged in a flexible beltcoiled into a compact cylindrical configuration for convenience inhandling. The nails are round-headed nails, scoured together by twoparallel, frangible wires in the manner disclosed in the Peterson 7Patent No. 3,083,369 or by other suitable frangible connecting links,for example, plastic strips.

In loading the canister magazine 26, a coil of nails is placed thereinand the leading end of the belt is disposed within the feed passage instructure 28. As best indicated in FIGURE 4, this feed passage has twoparallel vertical walls 38 that define a channel which receives theshank of the nail, and at the upper end of each wall 38 is a horizontalsurface 40 on which a portion of the nail head 42 rests. Disposed inthis feed passage, as indicated above, are two pawls, a holding pawl 30and a feeding pawl 32. The holding pawl is generally of U shapedconfiguration, as indicated in FIGURE 4, and each leg has two spacedgrooves or recesses 44 (FIGURE which engage the shank 46 of twosuccessive nails in the belt. The two pawls are vertically offset fromone another so that they do not interfere with each other. As indicatedin FIGURES 4 and 10, holding pawl 30 is pivotally secured on pin 48which passes through cars 50 that project outwardly from the wall ofstructure 28. A spring'52 normally biases the holding pawl and its nailshank receiving grooves 44 into engagement with the nail shanks.movement of nails in the feed passage 54 away from the drive passage 56.The holding pawl 30 also has inclined surfaces 58 along which the nail.shanks ride and force the pawl outwardly as the nails are advancedthrough channel 54. a t y The feed pawl 32 is coupled to a feed-camstructure60 which extends upwardly from the feed cam into the bodyportion of the driving apparatus. In configuration the feed pawl issimilar to the holding pawl, having nail shank receiving grooves 44' andinclined surfaces 58. t is arranged, however, to allow rearward movementof the pawl and forward feeding of the nails. To this end pawl 32 ismounted for front and back motion.

Also mounted within the body portion is a plunger 62 to which is secureda depending naildriving blade 64, which is aligned with nail-drivingpassage 56 for downward movement therethrough. The plunger 62 includes asleeve 66 which surrounds the nail-driving blade 64.

Housed within the sleeve and surrounding the nail-driving blade is areturn spring 68 which acts between a stop 70 in the lower portion ofthe body and the plunger head to return the plunger to an up position. Akey-like projection 72 protruding from the side of the sleeve 66 ridesin a slot 74 in the body wall and functions to guide and limit themotion of the sleeve.

On the opposite outer wall of the sleeve are formed two depressions 76and 78, which are arranged to cooperate with a pivotally-rnounted' pawl30. The pawl 80 is pivotally mounted on shaft 82 and is biased in theclock-wise direction by a push rod 84 and a spring 86, and in thecounter clock-wise direction by a spring 88. The length of the pawl issuch that it engages the surface 89 of the plunger sleeve 66 except whenthe plunger s either in its full up position (at which time the pawl isin groove 76) or in its full down position (at which time the pawlis ingroove 78). When the plunger is intermediate its up andFdown" positions,sleeve surface 89 is engaged by the pawl 89, and that pawl acts toprevent reverse motionof the plunger.

The holding pawl is designed to prevent For example, in the positionshown in FIGURE 5, pawl is resting in groove 76 and the plunger sleeve66 is free to move in either direction. However, it is in its upposition as is limited by key 72. When the plunger head 18 is struck amallet blow, it is driven downwardly and surface 89 engages pawl 80,cocking that pawl in counter clock-wise direction against the force ofspring 86. The pawl, in that cocked position, prevents upward movementof the plunger and holds it in the position to which it was driven bythe mallet; Further mallet blows, as necessary, drive the plungerdownward until the pawl enters groove 78, at which time the upwardrestraining force of the pawl is removed. In this position spring 68 isthen effective to immediately move-the plunger 62 upwardly. As theplunger sleeve moves upwardly, surface 89 again contacts pawl 80, but inthis case it cocks the pawl in the clock-wise direction (against thetension of spring 88), so that the pawl 80 does not impede the return ofthe plunger to its"up or initial position. Thus, pawl 80 acts to insurethe movement of the plunger from its up position fully to its downbefore the plunger can return to its up position. This travel in thedriving stroke of the nail-driving blade 64 is necessary to drive thenail disposed in the driving passage fully into the workpiece 12, asindicated in FIGURE 7.

Feed cam 60 has a cam surface 90 that is engaged by the lower end 92 ofplunger sleeve 66 as the plunger is moved down in a driving operation.Surface 90 is inclined slightly forward, as indicated in FIGURE 5, andas the plunger moves down, the cam 60 is moved rearwardly (pivotingabout the shaft 82 on which it is supported). As the cam movesrearwardly, it carries the feed pawl 32 back towards the magazine 26. Inthis operation, the feed pawl 32 rides out (on inclined surfaces 58'through transverse flexure of the cam 60) as it moves reurwardly pastthe nail shanks 46 that are held in position by the surfaces 44 of theholding pawl 30.

There is also provided in the body 14 about halfway down the plungerchannel, a latch '96 which is pivotally mounted on pin 98 and urgeddownwardly by spring 100. This latch normally rests on upper ledge 102on the feed cam 60. However, as the feed cam is rocked to the right, asviewed in FIGURE 5, by the downward movement of plunger sleeve 66, thelatch is moved off ledge 102 and at the end of the plunger stroke, itfalls, under the influence of spring 100, onto ledge 104 in whichposition it holds the feed cam in latched position, as indicated inFIGURE 7. In this position, as shown in FIGURE ll, the feed pawl 32 hasbeen moved rearwardly from engagement with the first and second nails inthe series into engagement with the second and third nails in the series(the same nails that are being held by the holding pawl 30).

Also, in this position, where the feed cam 60 has just been latched,control pawl 80 is disposed in groove 78 so that upward movement of theplunger 66 is now permitted. The'plungcr then moves upwardly rapidlyunder the influence of spring 68 to return to its up position. Carriedon the lower end of the plunger sleeve 66 is a latch release tab 1'10,which is offset laterally from the cam 60. As the plungcr returns to itsup position,

the latch release tab rises until it engages latch 96 and lifts thatlatch oil of ledge 104 and up to ledge surface 102 so that the feed cam60 is free to move forward. Spring 34 then moves the feed cam and feedpawl 32 forward rapidly to advance the second and third nails, placingthe second nail in the drive passage 56, during which movement holdingpawl 30 is moved outwardly, by inclined surfaces 58, against the actionof spring 52. At this time, groove 76 is aligned with pawl 80 so thatthe apparatus has been reset for another driving stroke. The second nailcan then be driven by blows applied to the head 18 of the plunger.

Thus, this driving apparatus enables the driving of a nail by repeatedblows into an embedded position in the workpiece, and when the nailreaches that embedded position, the driving apparatus recyclesautomatically to reset the plunger and the nail-driving blade and thento advance another nail automatically into position for the nextnail-driving operation. The apparatus is useful with a belt offulLheaded nails which are secured together by frangible connectinglinks so that a large number of nails may be driven without thenecessity to reload the magazine. The particular embodiment described indetail is particularly adaptable for nailing operations in conjunctionwith the laying of hardwood floors. While this particular embodiment hasbeen described in detail, modifications thereof will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art and therefore, it is not intended that the inventionbe limited to the disclosed embodiment or to details thereof, anddepartures may be made therefrom within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for driving fasteners into a work piece comprising a bodydefining a fastener delivery passage,

a magazine structure for holding a fastener package including amultiplicity of parallel fasteners interconnected in series,

structure connecting said magazine to said body defining a fastener feedpassage for guiding fasteners from said magazine to said fastenerdelivery passage,

a plunger slidably mounted in said body between a starting position anda fastener driven position,

I a fastener driving blade depending from said plunger for movementthrough said fastener delivery passage in response to movement of saidplunger from said starting position to said fastener driven position tothereby drive a fastener from said delivery passage into a work piece,

means for effecting return movement of said plunger from said fastenerdriven position to said starting position,

feed means mounted for movement from a first position through saidfastener feed passage into a secend position to engage said fastenerpackage and effect movement of the leading fastener from a feed positionwithin said feed passage into said delivery passage and the nextadjacent fastener into said feed position and for movement from saidsecond position to said first position,

holding means operable to engage a portion of said fastener packagedisposed within said feed passage to prevent movement of the lattertherein in a direction away from said delivery passage during themovement of said feed means from said second position to said firstposition but to permit movement of said fastener package within saidfeed passage during the movement of said feed means from said firstposition to said second position,

spring means operatively connected with said feed means for effectingmovement of said feed means from said first position to said secondposition,

means operatively associated with said plunger and said feed meansoperable in response to the movement of said plunger from said startingposition to said fastener driven position for effecting movement of saidfeed means from said second position into said first position againstthe action of said spring means,

latch means engageable between said body and said feed means in responseto the movement of said feed means into said first position to retainthe latter against movement out of said first position by said springmeans and releasable to permit such movement, and

means operatively associated with saidplunger operable in response tothe return movement of said plunger to said starting position forreleasing said 2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said feedmeans .comprises a feed member mounted for movement between said firstand second positions within slot means formed in said fastener feedpassge defining structure and extending in the direction of movement ofsaid fasteners therein, said feed member being normally biased in adirection transversely toward a fastener within said fastener feedpassage to engage such fastener and effect movement thereof during themovement of said feed member from said first position to said secondposition and being yieldable in a direction transversely away from afastener in said fastener feed passage to ride over such fastener duringthe movement of said feed member from said second position to said firstposition.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said feed member includes apair of spaced fastener engaging portions having aligned pairs offastener engaging notches formed therein for engaging the leading andnext adjacent fasteners.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said feed means furthercomprises an elongated member pivotally carried by said body andoperatively connected with said feed member, and said feed means movingmeans comprises a first cam surface fixed with respect to said plungerfor movement therewith, said elongated member having a second camsurface extending longitudinally thereof for engagement with said firstcam surface throughout substantially the entire movement of the latterduring the movement of said plunger between-said starting and fastenerdriven positions. .1

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said latch means comprises alatch member carried by said; body for normally biased movement into alatching position and for movement out of such latching position into arelease position, said elongated member having latch engaging surfacemeans adjacent one end of the camsurface thereon for retaining saidlatch member insaid release position when said feed member is out ofsaidfirst position and for permitting biased movement .of said latchmember into said latching position when said feed member is moved intosaid first position by. said elongated member and wherein said latchmeans releasing means comprises a release tab fixed with respect to saidplunger for movement therewith in a position to engage said latch memberand effect movement thereof'from said latching position to said releaseposition during, the movement of said plunger into said startingposition.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid plung er includes a headportion disposed outwardly of said body adapted to receive impact blowsby a mallet to affect movement of said plunger from said starting,position to said fastener driven position.

7. 7 Apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said means for effectingreturn movement of said plunger comprises return spring means, and meansoperatively engageable with said plunger to retain the latter in anyposition into which it is moved by an impact blow during the movement ofsaid plunger from said starting position to said fastener drivenposition and releasable in response to the movement of said plunger intosaid fastenerdriven'position to permit the return movement of saidplunger by said return spring means.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said magazine is generallycylindrical in shape having a-.central axis disposed parallel with thelongitudinal extent of said fastener delivery passage for holding thefasteners of said package therein in parallel relation to said axis incoil formation therea-bout, the fasteners being interconnecting by apair of parallel wires welded to the shank of each fastener.

(References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Crisp 227-136 Woodward 227-136 Boden 227--l36 X Weber eta1.

8 3,012,247 12/1961 Sillarsetal 227-147): 3,022,509 2/1962 DeM an 227-114x 'FOREIGN PATENTS 883,860 v7/1953 Germany. 590,142 3/1959 Italy.

GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR DRIVING FASTENERS INTO A WORK PIECE COMPRISING A BODYDEFINING A FASTENER DELIVERY PASSAGE, A MAGAZINE STRUCTURE FOR HOLDING AFASTENER PACKAGE INCLUDING A MULTIPLICITY OF PARALLEL FASTENERSINTERCONNECTED IN SERIES, STRUCTURE CONNECTING SAID MAGAZINE TO SAIDBODY DEFINING A FASTENER FEED PASSAGE FOR GUIDING FASTENERS FROM SAIDMAGAZINE TO SAID FASTENER DELIVERY PASSAGE, A PLUNGER SLIDABLY MOUNTEDIN SAID BODY BETWEEN A STARTING POSITION AND A FASTENER DRIVEN POSITIONA FASTENER DRIVING BLADE DEPENDING FROM SAID PLUNGER FOR MOVEMENTTHROUGH SAID FASTENER DELIVERY PASSAGE IN RESPONSE TO MOVEMENT OF SAIDPLUNGER FROM SAID STARTING POSITION TO SAID FASTENER DRIVEN POSITION TOTHEREBY DRIVE A FASTENER FROM SAID DELIVERY PASSAGE INTO A WORK PIECE,MEANS FOR EFFECTING RETURN MOVEMENT OF SAID PLUGNER FROM SAID FASTENERDRIVEN POSITION TO SAID STARTING POSITION, FEED MEANS MOUNTED FORMOVEMENT FROM A FIRST POSITION THROUGH SAID FASTENER FEED PASSAGE INTO ASECOND POSITION TO ENGAGE SAID FASTENER PACKAGE AND EFFECT MOVEMENT OFTHE LEADING FASTENER FROM A FEED POSITION WITHIN SAID FEED PASSAGE INTOSAID DELIVERY PASSAGE AND THE NEXT ADJACENT FASTENER INTO SAID FEEDPOSITION AND FOR MOVEMENT FROM SAID SECOND POSITION TO SAID FIRSTPOSITION, HOLDING MEANS OPERABLE TO ENGAGE A PORTION OF SAID FASTENERPACKAGE DISPOSED WITHIN SAID FEED PASSAGE TO PREVENT MOVEMENT OF THELATTER THEREIN IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM SAID DELIVERY PASSAGE DURING THEMOVEMENT OF SAID FEED MEANS FROM SAID SECOND POSITION TO SAID FIRSTPOSITION BUT TO PERMIT MOVEMENT OF SAID FASTENER PACKAGE WITHIN SAIDFEED PASSAGE DURING THE MOVEMENT OF SAID FEED MEANS FROM SAID FIRSTPOSITION TO SAID SECOND POSITION, SPRING MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTEDWITH SAID FEED MEANS FOR EFFECTING MOVEMENT OF SAID FEED MEANS FROM SAIDFIRST POSITION TO SAID SECOND POSITION, MEANS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATEDWITH SAID PLUNGER AND SAID FEED MEANS OPERABLE IN RESPONSE TO THEMOVEMENT OF SAID PLUNGER FROM SAID STARTING POSITION TO SAID FASTENERDRIVEN POSITION FOR EFFECTING MOVEMENT OF SAID FEED MEANS FROM SAIDSECOND POSITION INTO SAID FIRST POSITION AGAINST THE ACTION OF SAIDSPRING MEANS, LATCH MEANS ENGAGEABLE BETWEEN SAID BODY AND SAID FEEDMEANS IN RESPONSE TO THE MOVEMENT OF SAID FEED MEANS INTO SAID FIRSTPOSITION TO RETAIN THE LATTER AGAINST MOVEMENT OUT OF SAID FIRSTPOSITION BY SAID SPRING MEANS AND RELEASABLE TO PERMIT SUCH MOVEMENT,AND MEANS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID PLUNGER OPERABLE IN RESPONSETO THE RETURN MOVEMENT OF SAID PLUNGER TO SAID STARTING POSITION FORRELEASING SAID LATCH MEANS TO PERMIT MOVEMENT OF SAID FEED MEANS FROMSAID FIRST POSITION INTO SAID SECOND POSITION BY SAID SPRING MEANS.